African Court – We Respect Sovereignty of State
PRESIDENT of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (AfCHPR) Imani Daud Aboud has said that the Continental Court respects decisions of countries, which opted to withdraw from the Arusha-based judicial facility.
The Lady Justice described such countries as sovereign states which were entitled to their own decisions.
“In the recent past we’ve witnessed some countries pulling out of the court, they might be having their reasons, and we cannot be against their wishes,” explained Lady Justice Aboud yesterday, shortly after opening the fourth training for lawyers on the AfCHPR’s roster.
The African Court President, however exuded optimism that countries that have withdrawn from the Continental Court would reverse their decisions in the near future. She further revealed that AfCHPR was keeping tabs with such countries as the court strives to emphasize the need of ratifying the protocol on the court’s establishment.
“We’ve continually been engaging the countries, for instance we will visit six countries to underscore the importance of ratifying the court’s protocol,” said Lady Justice Aboud.
Tanzania, which hosts the African Court whose seat is in Arusha, became the second country after Rwanda to withdraw the right of individuals and NGOs to directly access the African Court in 2019. Tanzania’s notice of withdrawal of the declaration made under Article 34(6) of the African Court Protocol was sent to the African Union on November 21, 2021.
In May this year, President Samia Suluhu Hassan President Hassan said the government may revisit the decision, but currently, the government has not changed its position after withdrawing from the Arusha-based continental court almost eighteen months ago.
In the same vein, Lady Justice Aboud challenged lawyers present at the training to frame litigation and submissions in a manner that helps the Court make meaningful and life changing decisions not only for individual applicants or victims but for domestic and regional systems.
On his part, Tanganyika Law Society President, Edward Hosea described the training as an important platform for practicing lawyers in the country to tap in the wealth knowledge and exposure from the Continental Court.
The three-day training aimed at enhancing and building the capacity of Counsel to be able to effectively represent Applicants before the AfCHPR.
It also seeks to equip participants with necessary skills to engage with the Court and become familiar with the judicial, procedural and operational aspects of the Court in order to be able to represent applicants effectively. Similar trainings have since been conducted in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
By Daily News.
